Pfizer CEO says choosing Israel as 'lab' was a 'wise choice'

The CEO of Pfizer said choosing Israel as a test case for its experimental mRNA vaccine against COVID was an easy and non-emotional decision when looking for a country to demonstrate the vaccine's potential.

“And given the results, I am happy to say, a very wise one,” Albert Bourla said in a video recording at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference on Tuesday.

“Simply put, Israel had all the right conditions: Israel’s Ministry of Health is one of the best in the world, as is Israel’s healthcare system,” he said. “The small population of Israel made the study manageable. Israel has a high degree of electronic data [and a] monitoring system connected to an overwhelming majority of the population. And finally, and very important, no country has more experience in managing crises.”

Bourla is Jewish and the son of Holocaust survivors.

Israel is one of a few countries distributing a third shot to everyone 12 and older and only offers the Pfizer vaccine, though the Ministry of Health says the country does not have an exclusivity contract with the pharmaceutical company.

More than 6 million Israelis have received at least one shot of the Pfizer vaccine – more than two-thirds of the eligible population. A total of nearly 16 million doses have been administered, The Jerusalem Post reported.